Political yard signs trashed, stolen in East Memphis

As the presidential contest heats up, campaign supporters are also feeling the heat. One Memphis voter says someone tried to silence her support.

White Station Road in East Memphis is well-traveled. That's why Tamara Howard-Fain chose the yard in front of her daughter's home for a yard sign to show her support for Barack Obama.

But Howard-Fain says the signs don't stay put for very long.

"First we put up a small sign. It was destroyed. Then we got a bigger sign, and she called me this morning and said it was destroyed."

Last week, the Obama supporter donated $50 dollars to the candidate's campaign and picked up a large campaign sign. The very next day she found it slashed in half.

"They took half the sign and pulled one of the posts out, and kind of destroyed the yard a little bit, and then threw the post in our driveway," she said.

Representatives from Democratic and Republican campaigns say they haven't received a lot of reports about signs being destroyed, but they've heard numerous complaints about signs being stolen.

"To me, it's kind of like trying to take away someone's voice, you know," said Howard-Fain. "When you destroy someone's property and destroy something they've put there for a reason, you're trying to take away their ability to speak out."

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